Small Business Spotlight: Some Great People

Article by Becky Fillinger

Sarah EdwardsSarah Edwards is sometimes called ‘the Kevin Bacon of Minneapolis’ – and for good reason – she is connected to everybody!  We talked to her about her creative agency, Some Great People, upcoming projects and how she lives out the company’s mission - We Do Good By Creating Thoughtful Connections. 

Q:  Please tell us how Some Great People came together.

A:  Well, I’m originally from Grand Rapids, MN. I’ve always been interested and curious in art, design, fashion, community, people. But honestly, growing up with a single mom I didn’t think it was possible for me to explore a creative career because I wanted something with stability. So I originally ended up moving to Grand Forks, ND to study Engineering and I hated it! My mom actually suggested looking into Minneapolis, and I ended up transferring here and was blown away by how much I loved it (for context, this was 15 years ago). I loved the incredible theater scene, music, design, access to the outdoors and really felt like Minneapolis was special.

I was waitressing at Gluek’s Bar and Restaurant downtown Minneapolis after graduating art school and had an idea to create a fashion show that celebrated Minneapolis. This event was called I AM Minneapolis!. Instead of featuring typical “models” on the runway, I featured cool people doing cool things. Whether it was someone in charge of a non-profit, a filmmaker, chef, tattoo artist, small business owner - I really felt these people contributed to making Minneapolis so special.

Fast forward to connecting the community and telling stories as my “side hustle” until I was approached by brands (such as Bumble) to apply my love of community and storytelling for their brands. I feel like I’m naturally good at it mostly because I’m an empathetic person and love nothing more than to listen to what someone is trying to accomplish and figure out ways to connect them. That’s why the brand Some Great People is so fitting for our agency. I was trying to think of a name for our agency and it occurred to me that the reason we have so much success is that we surround ourselves with #somegreatpeople. In 2020 we had our best year yet and saw a growth of 20%. We have new clients coming at us nationally and are growing, yet staying intentional to our mission and vision. We Do Good By Creating Thoughtful Connections. Our client list includes: Rosedale Center, Sherman Associates, Hands On Twin Cities, Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis, The Metropolitan, Umbra Minneapolis, Agra Culture, SotaRol, La Grolla, Potluck, Apple Autos and Brick x Mortar.

Q:  I love that your mom encouraged you to pursue your creative side, and it was certainly the right advice.  Your company’s growth in 2020 is very impressive – congratulations! Your agency is not only a creative marketing studio - you're also an active community member. You held an event last month based on the idea that volunteering can be an effective tool for creating an equitable community. Tell us about this event.

A:  One of our clients is Hands On Twin Cities and they are THE connectors of volunteers, nonprofits and corporate partners. They have been around for over 100 years (actually last year we produced a big celebration called #100YearsofVolunteers which was a yearlong campaign celebrating volunteerism, and we even published a coffee table book!). The event was called Volunteerism: A Bold Conversation and focused on how volunteering can be an effective tool for creating an equitable community. We also focused on the current systemic racism within the volunteer community and the panelists addressed ways we can come together and move forward. The event featured Seena Hodges, Founder & CEO of The Woke Coach, Nadege Souvenir Senior Vice President of Operations and Learning at The Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, Jonathan Palmer the Executive Director at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center and Laverne McCartney Knighton who is the Area Development Director for UNCF. 

Q:  Are there any more community events on the horizon?

A:  Yes, we always have fun events in the works. (Safety is our #1 priority so we have virtual ways of attending and limited attendance with masks required). We are hosting an event in March focused on TikTok and how businesses and brands can utilize it to grow and reach their customers. We also have a lot of great partnerships with Sherman Associates and the beautiful Canopy by Hilton Hotel and Umbra Minneapolis! I'm also the Co-Founder of Fashion Week MN and we have a really great line up for Spring which can be found at www.fashionweekmn.com.

Q:  How can we follow your news and participate in your events?

A:  We are soon launching an app where you can find our events but until then you can find us here: Website, Facebook, Instagram